


Meetings

by pommene



Series: Gate of the Abyss (mmorpg au) [1]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: 5 +1, eiwata is strongly implied but can be read as platonic i guess??, mmorpg au, they swear once but its just ass so i didnt up the rating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22177228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pommene/pseuds/pommene
Summary: Five times Wataru met his guildmates through a game and the one time they met in real life.
Series: Gate of the Abyss (mmorpg au) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1597498
Kudos: 26





	Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written a one shot before but I couldn't get this out of my head so
> 
> I'm a sucker for fine and their dynamic but this ended up featuring more eiwata than I meant it to and honestly I'm fine with that
> 
> I may make a series of this au, I may not, idk

1.

Wataru met Eichi through the annual tournament period that Gate of the Abyss-- the relatively new mmorpg Wataru had become obsessed with-- held. Lovingly dubbed the "War" by veteran players, Wataru and his guild had won the whole thing the previous year and were confident in holding onto their #1 guild title.

The Oddballs were an eccentric guild made of five members that, if asked, most players would say they hated. Though the guild rarely interacted with others, rumors circulated about their in-game cruelty. To many the War was the best way to stop The Oddballs from terrorizing players and cut them down. Many had attempted, but none had succeeded.

That is, until a newly formed guild called _fine_ kept destroying their competition in the War and came face to face with The Oddballs in the final match.

Wataru hadn't thought much of _fine_ at first. _A lord, a healer, a swordsman, and a mage_ , Wataru thought, _we have one more member than them, we have all the top gear, and their highest level is still five levels lower than our lowest. What could they do to us?_

Apparently they could do a lot. Their team of four took on the five Oddballs one at a time, cornering them until their avatar died before moving on to the next.

All in all, it was an absolute slaughter. The Oddballs were left broken on the battlefield, and with the drop in status that came from losing The Oddballs guild became tenser and tenser.

Wataru wouldn't say they drifted apart, but he didn't exactly disagree when three of the other members said they should disband the guild. The youngest of them-- their mage, Natsume-- was the only one who fought it.

No, Wataru wouldn't say they drifted apart, because the five of them were still good friends. But when the leader of the _fine_ that beat him in the War approached Wataru asking him to join the new _fine_ , he didn't even think about objecting.

He was intrigued by the player, the leader of the very guild that took down the monstrous Oddballs seemed so... normal. At first.

Through talking with the player, he learned their name was Eichi (though that was no surprise since his player name was Eichi <3) and that, truthfully, Eichi had joined the War to learn more about Wataru.

And who was Wataru to deny to hunt for knowledge.

2.

Wataru and Eichi made up the new fine by themselves for a time. Quickly Eichi realized that they couldn't continue on with just two members, so they began scouting. Eichi said they were looking for someone high level, capable, and generally able to balance out their team of a lord and a pegasus knight. Despite considering so many very capable, very high level players it took them a few months to find any new members.

Eichi did a lot of things that surprised Wataru, but when the latter logged on one day to find that two new members had been added to the guild in his absence was one of the most shocking. Neither of them were well known or particularly high level; in fact, one of them was a new player and barely level 5.

Eichi filled him in later that the higher leveled one, named Little Prince in-game, had requested to join because he wanted to work with Eichi, and Eichi had let them in because he "got the right feeling from them" or something or other. Apparently Little Prince and the other, simply named Yuzu, were a pair deal.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the two new additions to _fine_ , an archer and a healer, grew a considerable amount, as did the two older guild members, in more than just levels.

Wataru liked to think he was a likeable guy and that he had a certain skill at getting to know people, but during those weeks all Wataru learned about Yuzu was that his name was Yuzuru and he and Little Prince (who wasn't nearly as keen on hiding and quickly became known as Tori) lived together. Wataru wondered if there was a meaning behind Tori calling Yuzuru "slave" every now and then, but he wasn't so crass as to ask straight up.

3.

On the 3 month anniversary of the new _fine_ 's establishment Eichi held the first guild voice chat.

Wataru loved hearing people talk, even if it was just himself. _In a way_ , he thought, _hearing someone talk for the first time is like meeting them for the first time all over again._

Wataru was more than excited for that night. He'd bought the best (and most expensive) headphones with a microphone he could find and hyped it up in the guild chat whenever he could.

So when the day came it was no surprise that Wataru was the first one to open the voice chat.

Eichi was the next, his icon appearing next to Wataru's on top of the screen.

"... Hello Wataru."

"My dear Eichi! Your Hibiki Wataru has been waiting so long~"

Wataru knew the minute he'd said it that Eichi would tell him off for using his full name so freely, but he was too enthusiastic to care. Besides, the lecture he was expecting never came.

"... Eichi?"

"Ah. I'm here, sorry. I was just... you sound different than I expected."

"Ooh, lost in my voice, Eichi?"

The laugh Eichi gave made Wataru's stomach flutter.

A blip and another icon appearing marked the arrival of Tori, shortly followed by Yuzuru.

"Eichi!"

"I'm here, dearest Tori. You're so cute~"

Wataru learned many things that night. One, Eichi had a beautiful but teasing manner of speaking, Tori was expressive and enthusiastic in the way he spoke, and Yuzuru was quiet most of the time, but there was a somewhat forced calmness in his voice that Wataru recognized, no matter how practiced it was. 

Two, Tori and Yuzuru did live together, but their relationship was a bit different than Wataru had expected. Yuzuru was Tori's personal butler, a fact that gave Wataru the perfect nickname for Yuzuru: Butler-san.

Three, Tori had a little sister and a dog, both of which made themselves present at some point during the night.

Four, Eichi was sick. He kept coughing throughout the call and occasionally had to mute himself, coming back once he was done and explaining that sometimes he gets ill, and that they shouldn't worry at all. That didn't stop Wataru from worrying, or Yuzuru from recommending ways to calm coughing fits.

The four of them talked until nearly midnight before Tori was whisked off to bed.

And then it was just Eichi and Wataru, and it was 2 am before Eichi made the smart decision to stop and sleep.

Wataru felt like he truly knew his guildmates after that.

4.

The next time he saw a new part of his guildmates-- who he considered close friends at this point-- was when he quite literally saw them.

Wataru had never been one to care much about online safety or concealing his identity. As such, he was the first one to send the others a picture of himself in their personal out-of-game chat.

It was the best picture of himself he could find in his gallery (he wasn't going to send some half-assed awful selfie of course) and, for the first time, he was nervous about his friends reactions. It was never like this with The Oddballs, he was never nervous around them, not even when they met for the first time in real life.

So when Eichi complimented him a moment later he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Yuzuru followed suit, then Tori, who seemed to take special intrest in how long Wataru's hair was and thus began calling him "Long hair". Wataru was rather proud of his beautiful hair, so he took the nickname gladly.

Tori was the next one to send a photo. In the picture, he stood in front a large fountain in some city somewhere, his large green eyes reflecting the sun and his fluffy pink hair slightly tousled as though someone had been messing with it moments before the photo was taken. His smile was bright and his face had a childish roundness to it that Wataru thought was adorable. 

Next was Yuzuru, though really it was Tori who sent the picture with Yuzuru's permission. It was clear that the photo Tori chose wasn't the one Yuzuru had expected based on his reaction. It showed the butler paused in a genuine smile, his pink eyes looking at something or someone out of frame. His dark blue hair was short cut, and Wataru almost missed the beauty mark under his right eye.

Eichi was the last, only sending a picture of himself a few days after all the others. Wataru had just taken a sip of tea when the file loaded and all but spit it out in an attempt to not choke. Eichi was, in Wataru's mind, absolutely gorgeous. His light blond hair was cut at his jawline, his pale skin almost glistened in the picture, and his clear blue eyes stared right into Wataru's soul. The lighting in the picture was dim, but his features were only perfected by the lack of light.

Wataru was utterly smitten.

5.

As the year went on they talked less and less. Everyone had plans or school or issues to deal with and their time to talk, let alone play Gate of the Abyss, was severely limited.

When the next War came about Wataru hadn't expected to participate. He was pleasantly surprised when Eichi told them he'd signed them up and that they'd "better start practicing and leveling because we can't make _fine_ look foolish".

Not that he ever needed an excuse to log on, but something about playing with his new guild was thrilling. Their dynamic was so different than what he was used to, but he enjoyed it just as much as he had enjoyed playing with The Oddballs.

When the day came they were all much _much_ stronger than they were the last year. Eichi sitting comfortably at level 89, Wataru at 73, Tori at 48 and Yuzuru at 40. All their skills had been perfected. They were ready to defend the old fine's title as #1 guild.

They all hopped into a voice chat and the War began. 

They faced guilds of all sizes, levels, ages, and even one guild with just one member who still put up a good fight. Honestly, the nonstop combat made Wataru's head hurt and his eyes were strained after the semifinal match. Yuzuru muttered something about getting a glass of water before Wataru took his headphones off and shook his head freely.

They had five minutes in between the semifinals and the finals, during which Eichi told them some things about the enemy team that Wataru didn't really care about and couldn't hear anyway.

In the end, _fine_ reigned supreme.

Wataru remembered his first victory with The Oddballs and vaguely wondered if the same rumors would follow him to _fine_. If the same rumors would turn _fine_ into monsters.

He didn't dwell on the thought, as Eichi was thanking them and Wataru was pretty sure Tori was on the verge of tears.

+1

Sometime after fine had lost the #1 title to an upcoming guild called Trickstar, they made the agreement to meet up in real life.

Wataru felt those strange nerves again as he took the train to their meetup spot. He'd done this before, so why was it different with his new guild, these new friends.

He made his way to the park they'd decided on (no one was particularly eager to give away their home adress) and sat one of the more isolated benches. He'd tried not to wear anything too obnoxious, he liked to get increasingly obnoxious in his clothing choices as the friendship went on.

He waited a bit, even worried that no one would show up, before he thought he saw a familiar head of blond hair across the park. A familiar head that walked straight for him.

"Wataru."

"Eichi! Amazing!"

Eichi was even more breathtaking in person. He was thinner than Wataru thought was healthy, but his eyes glistened with a confidence that came naturally, a vibrant blue against the green of the trees behind him. He was smiling, and just for a moment Wataru cursed Eichi for smiling like that, so bright and honest and so quick to catch Wataru's attention. If Eichi caught him staring at all, he didn't bring it up.

"That picture didn't do you justice."

"They rarely do."

Another smile. God, would Wataru pay to have Eichi smile like that to him all the time.

"It's nice, doing this. I've never really had online friends before you all."

"Well, we aren't just online friends now are we!"

"Mmm, I suppose not."

Before he could think, Wataru blurted out, "Was the old fine not friends to you?"

Eichi kept smiling, though it seemed more forced and more sad.

"Ah."

"I'm sorry, it just seemed odd to me. You don't-"

"The old fine had a goal in mind and that was it. We weren't really friends in the end, at least... I don't think we were."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? It brought us together, and you were a part of that goal if you recall."

Wataru remembered it well.

A loud cry called out Eichi's name, and both he and Wataru turned to find Tori sprinting towards them and barreling into Eichi's arms.

"Eichi!"

"My, my, my adorable little Tori, how are you? You look so cute~"

Following closely behind Tori was a slightly exasperated Yuzuru who stopped to stand next to Wataru as Eichi and Tori chatted.

Up close with all his friends now, Wataru realized that there were things the photos didn't capture. The way Eichi's eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight, the way Yuzuru's eyelashes were so long, the way that one piece of Tori's hair stuck up at an odd angle no matter how many times Eichi pushed it down.

In that moment, everything was beautiful.

"Butler-san."

"Yes, Hibiki-sama?"

"I do believe we must rein in young Tori. We _do_ have a reservation, you know? The café won't hold it for long if we're late."

"Ah, yes."

In that moment, Wataru forgot about The Oddballs and _fine_ and the game. 

It was just him and his three new friends and the buzz of excitement in the air. 


End file.
